Paul van Dyk Featuring Vega 4 – Time Of Our Lives / Connected

Time Of Our Lives (Paul van Dyk Club Mix)
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If you ever wondered what would happen when rock meets electronica, then now’s your chance to find out. Paul van Dyk teams up with the UK rock band Vega 4 to bring to us a track that has proven itself very popular in the clubs. The legendary bassline used on classics such as Columbia and Out There And Back, returns to us yet again to accompany this stormer of a track. I've said it before, and I’ll say it again; I really do believe that there is no one out there that can make kicks as powerful and effective as Paul van Dyk. The intro is very simple, and quickly we are taken to a short pause where we get a taste of what is to come with some very 'electric guitar' type synths. The beats resume, pounding all the way to the breakdown. In come the ‘electric guitar’ synths again, only this time with lyrics sung over the top by John McDaid. "There's a time for us to let go, there's a time for holding on. A time to speak a time to listen," etc. During this breakdown, there is an amazing key change that really takes the track to a new level. It's moments like these in songs that define the word uplifting, and you can't help but get Goosebumps. The track resumes the same as before, the hard bassline pounding, but only to be taken back to hearing John McDaid sing again over the melody. Right before the track explodes for the last and final time we hear the lyrics "Oh this is the time, of our lives." Now the melody, the bassline and the vocals from the previous parts of the track all come together. It really is such an exhilarating track, and out of his recent productions definitely one of my personal favourites.

Connected (Moto_05 Mix)
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It's not everyday you see a track on the b-side that has the makings of being more favoured than the a-side, and for that reason this makes it arguably one of the greatest b-sides of all time. Connected (Moto_05 Mix) is the legendary track famous for its preview in the advert on television Paul van Dyk did with Motorola mobile phones. The melody is very catchy, depressing in places but uplifting in others, which makes this track very unique. What is most great about this track though is the way it appears to come to an end after the first breakdown, but then out of nowhere the melody just explodes again, and kicks straight back in. Great track, and just like Time Of Our Lives, a personal favourite of mine out of his more recent productions.